The shadow player play modes

The shadow player can be played in two modes:

  • by key: with a manual action of a keyboard or footboard (USB or bluetooth)
  • automatic: without interaction

Manual Play Mode: by key

Several kind of devices can be used to play the shadow player manually:

  • a page turner, which acts as a keyboard, mostly with two keys and using bluetooth
  • a MIDI keyboard or pedal, which can be connected to the device with a USB cable or bluetooth

These devices are used to trigger the playing of the recognized note.

Only one key is needed to instruct the shadow player to play the recognized note at the time of pressing the key. Once started, a note will be played until a small silence is observed, even if you play other notes. To change the note played, just press the key again after playing yourself the new note with your musical instrument.

How to use a Page turner or keyboard

Press space: It will play the recognized note at the time of pressing the key.

You may use a keyboard for this mode, or a bluetooth footboard page turner pedal like: Page turner pedal

Use the following configuration (n°5): Page turner pedal configuration

How to use a MIDI keyboard or footboard

You may use a MIDI keyboard or footboard to control the shadow player: MIDI Controllers allow you to configure the MIDI for the harmonium: 👆 Studio parameters’ MIDI mapping

One MIDI note or program change can be defined to start playing the recognized note at the time of pressing the key.

Automatic Play mode

With the automatic mode, the shadow player handles itself the playing of the note:

  • every time a note is recognized, it plays it (with a slight delay due to the processing and input/output latency)
  • each note is played until a silence is observed
  • you don’t have to press any key or button on a device (you don’t need a device at all)

If the shadow players seams to play quickly random notes, it means the microphone sensitivity is to high. So you should decrease the minimum input level by several dB.

We provide two kinds of automatic play modes:

  • immediate: the note is played as soon as it is recognized
  • delayed: the note is played after a delay, which can be configured by selecting the delay:
    • after 2 seconds
    • after 3 seconds
    • after 4 seconds
    • after 5 seconds

If you stop playing the note before the end of the delay, it will not be played. You have to play continuously the same note during the whole delay to hear it played by the shadow player (it’s not like an echo).

Why do we provide a delayed mode?

  • to give you time to play and adjust the note yourself, and then listen to the shadow player playing it along with you
  • to help you to play the note at the right pitch, by ear, and to recognize the note by ear
  • to enable you to autocorrect the pitch of the note you’re playing, by ear
  • with many musical instruments, it’s difficult to press a button or a key while playing, so you can play freely and listen to the shadow player after a few seconds

(Shadow player main page: 👆 The Shadow player)